Powerless
by ty.soglasna
Summary: The war rages on, and Padma finds herself locked in the Ministry prison, powerless to do anything in her situation. That is, almost powerless... PPHG. Tragedy, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Humor. Yes, four genres. Why not?


**Disclaimer-** Think guys: I am clearly _not_ JK Rowling, because Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. If it did, it would have been _quite_ different.

WARNING: contains explicit sex between women (femslash!). If this offends you or if you aren't allowed to read things of this nature, then just don't.

**note**: if you want to see a drawing I did for the first scene, then by all means direct your internet browser to: http :// manarangi . deviantart . com /art/Despair-66430424 (remove spaces)

Powerless

The heavy iron door clanged open, and Padma Patil was roughly pushed through it. The guard closed the door at her back with a second clang, one that spoke of a dark finality, and she let herself slide boneless down the length of the door to the cold stone floor. She sat like that, staring at the wall in front of her without really seeing it, for several long moments. She gazed blankly forward without thinking or feeling, knowing that it was the only way to keep the chaos that menaced at the edges of her mind at bay. The pain and the shock were tolerable only when she kept her mind empty of all thoughts, refusing to allow them purchase to take hold.

At length there was a small sound from the far corner of the cell, and Padma lifted her head for the first time. She took stock of her surroundings quickly, and found herself to be in a cramped and bare cell. The single oil lamp hanging from the ceiling cast a dingy light on the walls, which were of cold stone like the floor, but not damp. In one corner there lay a heaped pile of almost-clean blankets, and hanging on the facing wall were an assortment of chains and manacles. In the other corner was a rusty cot with a graying, thin mattress. It was the person on the cot who had made the noise. Padma realized with mild interest that it was Hermione Granger, one of her year-mates from Hogwarts. They had been in many of the same classes during fifth and sixth year, although they had never really talked much. It occurred to Padma that she should be surprised to see someone she knew here, but she found herself unable to feel the slightest stirring of any emotion.

"Parvati? Is that you?" Hermione's voice sounded like it had not been used in a while.

Padma continued to stare blankly at the wall. After a few minutes, she roused herself enough to reply, "No, it's Padma."

Hermione nodded and there was a long silence while she seemed content to sit back and gaze at the other girl, taking in her dogged appearance. When Hermione did not speak again, Padma offered a weak "So how did you get here?"

Hermione gave a heavy sigh. "I'm a member of the Order of the Phoenix and a muggle-born; it was inevitable that I end up in here if the Ministry ever caught me. I wasn't careful enough one time, and now…now I'm trapped in the bowels of the Ministry, useless. At least Harry and Ron managed to get away...What about you?"

Padma fought to keep her emotions in check as she forced herself to recall the events of her day.

"I can't believe that it was really just this morning. We – my whole family – were going to go stay with relatives in India, and finally escape this whole ridiculous war. Dad had been waiting for his job transfer to come through, and it finally did." She grimaced at the irony and continued. "We had it all planned out…" her voice hitched. "We were going to take a muggle airplane, figured it was the last thing they would expect…not that they say you can't leave the country, of course, but you hear things…we were literally stepping into the fire to Floo to the airport, when ministry thugs stormed into the living room…there were so many of them!" She had a glassy look in her eyes now, as she relived the scene she was describing. "I don't even know what happened after that. There were stunners flying everywhere, and they said they were going to take Dad to Azkaban. I think that my mother got away with my brothers in the fire, but I just don't know."

The reality of it finally seemed to hit her, and her carefully maintained façade crumbled. In an instant, Hermione was off the cot and by her side. Padma collapsed into her arms and sobbed hysterically. It felt good to finally talk about this, to let it out, but at the same time saying it out loud made it all the more real. "I don't know! They could be anywhere– prison– worse–"

"Shh, shhh, it's going to be alright," said Hermione, holding the other girl tightly and smoothing her tear-wetted hair away from her face. "No," Padma choked out through her tears. "They- they stunned me, and I didn't see what happened, and I couldn't help! I-" Another sob racked her body and Hermione rocked her back and forth in her arms, murmuring soothing words into her hair. Padma's sobs eventually came slower, but Hermione's hand didn't stop moving through her hair. She bent to kiss her forehead and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Your family is going to be fine. This is the ministry we're talking about, and they still have to keep up appearances. They don't kill, and if you ended up here right away and not Azkaban, then they're probably not planning on putting you in there at all."

Padma nodded and took a deep shuddering breath. Hermione's rationalization of the situation made sense, and there was no point in blaming herself for what had been out of her control. "I wish there was something I could do though," Padma said, tears still leaking from her eyes.

Hermione sighed. "I know, so do I…" They sat in silence for a while as Padma's tears subsided.

"Tell me about India. Do you have many relatives there?" Hermione asked, giving Padma another kiss on the forehead.

"Yeah, tons," Padma replied shakily, glad for the distraction. She settled back into Hermione's arms and rested her head on her shoulder, soothed by the touch. "My father's whole family lives there, and my mother's parents too. It gets pretty zoo-y at the house sometimes," she said with a trace of a smile.

"They all live in one house??"

Padma's smile grew slightly wider. "It's been in the family for generations; it's a really big house. My great-grandfather had three wives, and they all fit just fine. And back then, there were always servants living there…two of them still do, I think," she said, reflecting. "And it's so pretty there, if you could only see it…"

"Tell me," urged Hermione, still trailing her fingers lazily through Padma's hair.

"That feels nice…" said Padma. Hermione shifted to get a better angle and then slid her fingers down to knead at her neck, easing out the tension that had built up there. Padma's smile was genuine now, and she cast about in the memories of her last visit for something Hermione would want to hear.

"The house is deep in the forest, to discourage the muggles from finding it, but it doesn't feel like it because the grounds are all cleared. There's always somewhere new to explore, though, in the forest. Tigers live there, but I think they're scared off by our thestrals," she chuckled to herself. "On time I saw a tiger make a kill, and she hadn't been eating for two minutes before a thestral came over to check it out. As soon as she saw it, the tiger literally jumped into the air and took off – I've never seen a tiger run that fast in my life!"

The girls both shared a laugh at the mental image of a spooked tiger. Hermione moved on to Padma's shoulders and continued massaging, slowly and with great care, and Padma continued with her story, finding comfort in the happy memories.

"The last time I was there was for Parvati's wedding; she got married right out of Hogwarts. We were there for a month and the wedding itself lasted six days; thank goodness for wizard tents or we would never have had room for everybody. It was so exciting; we all got to wear the old family jewelry and Parvati wore grandmother's wedding sari. She was so beautiful!" sighed Padma with a wistful air.

Hermione paused her massaging and leaned in to rest her chin on Padma's shoulder. "Was she as beautiful as you?" Hermione asked in a low voice.

"I- you think I'm beautiful?" asked Padma, incredulous, turning to look Hermione in the face.

"I do," replied Hermione, reaching up to cup Padma's cheek in one hand. "I've always thought you were beautiful." Padma met her eyes and saw a strange light glowing within them. It made her catch her breath. "Tell me," she breathed, feeling butterflies in her stomach.

"You're beautiful like a summer afternoon," Hermione traced her thumb over Padma's cheekbone, still looking into her eyes, "when the sun comes in at that perfect angle and makes everything golden." She slid her hand down the line of her jaw and let it drop to rest on her shoulder again. "You're beautiful when you're concentrating over your Runes homework, and when you've just woken up in the morning, and when you leave to go up to bed," Hermione nuzzled her face in Padma's neck and punctuated each statement with a kiss up the side of her neck, the last one ending up in the hollow between ear and jaw. Hermione breathed huskily into Padma's ear, "I think you're beautiful when you cry," Padma smiled ruefully. "And when you smile," Padma smiled wider and tilted her head back to expose more of her neck to Hermione's ministrations. "And when you laugh," Hermione continued inexorably, pressing another kiss into the hollow below Padma's ear.

At this Padma felt a small moan escape involuntarily, and she looked at Hermione to see her eyes dark with desire. Breath short in anticipation, Padma turned her head ever so slightly and met Hermione's lips with her own. As if this was all she was waiting for, Hermione instantly began kissing her back with a passion that surprised them both. Padma returned the kiss with equal passion, pouring all the tension from the fear and uncertainty of the day into her kiss. They broke apart, gasping, only when air became an issue, and met each other's eyes. Hermione's hands were tangled in Padma's hair, and Padma found herself straddling the other girl's lap. She caressed Hermione's face tenderly. "Thank you," she murmured, before plunging into another deep and burning kiss.

There was no telling how long they would have gone on for, for they met each other's hungry lips with equal need, but eventually Padma felt the stress of the day catching up with her. She had been through so much and had been wound up so tight that she probably wouldn't have been able to fall asleep if she wanted to. Now, however, all the tension was gone, and she felt as relaxed as though she were floating around on a cloud. She broke the kiss and slumped against Hermione's chest, still lazily tracing her fingers up and down the length of her arm.

"I don't think I can keep my eyes open much longer," she admitted, stifling a yawn.

"Mmmm," Hermione agreed. "You've had a long day." She pressed a chaste kiss to her lips and then stood, helping her up. Padma stumbled the few paces to the cot, and they both fell into it. It was just wide enough for two people to lay side by side, and Padma could feel the warm pressure of Hermione's body along the whole length of her side. Hermione drew Padma's head to rest on her shoulder, and wrapped her arms around her. "Sweet dreams," she said, and kissed her on the forehead. Padma snuggled closer into Hermione's embrace, and gladly let sleep take her.

.oO8Oo.

Padma woke many hours later to find herself cuddled up against Hermione, who was still asleep. Padma propped herself up on one elbow and looked at the beautiful girl sleeping next to her, marveling at the turn of events. Sometimes the thing you were least expecting ends up being what you needed the most, and it was certainly true in this case, she thought. She felt relaxed, light, and truly happy for the first time in days.

Hermione sighed and blinked her eyes. Padma smiled down at her and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "Did you sleep well?"

Hermione grinned and stifled a yawn. "Yeah, thanks to you, gorgeous." Padma felt the butterflies again. There was a minor scuffle as they both tried to sit up at the same time without falling off the cot, but they ended up sitting across from each other on either end of the cot without too much difficulty.

Hermione rubbed her eyes and ran a hand through her bushy hair. "That's the first time I've slept really well since I got here."

"How long _have_ you been here?" Padma frowned in concern. When she had been put in the cell, Hermione had just been sitting on the cot, doing nothing. How long had she had to live like that?

"About two and a half weeks, but I don't know exactly. I lost count for a few days because I was just sleeping all the time."

Padma cried out in sympathy and leaned over to give Hermione a hard hug. "You poor thing! How did you not go insane with boredom?"

"Well, I might have, but then I remembered a book about wandless magic I read one time, and I've been trying to practice as much as I can remember of that. It passes the time, but you're right, it's still deadly dull here."

"That's terrible…It's as though the ministry is trying to drive us insane." Padma said, shaking her head.

"Oh, I'm sure that's what they have in mind. It's against the law to actually harm prisoners awaiting trial, but there's nothing that says they have to keep them entertained. And they have plenty of excuses to put off people's trials as long as they want."

"I wish there was something we could do!" Padma exclaimed. "I mean, besides just trying to keep the boredom away. We should do something to let them know that it's not working, just to spite them. But there's nothing we can do, locked up like this." She sighed.

"Hmmm…" said Hermione, a devious glint coming into her eye. "I know what we could do to let the Ministry know that we were…having fun…despite their best efforts." Her gaze was practically lecherous now, and she seemed to relish the thought of finally getting back at the Ministry.

A flash of realization hit Padma. This was brilliance itself. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked, returning the lecherous gaze with confidence.

Hermione's answer was to stalk across the cot and capture Padma's mouth in a needy kiss. When she broke away, her breath was already ragged with anticipation. "Yes…we'll do it LOUD!" she said in answer to Padma's question. Padma laughed out loud.

"Is that ok with you?" Hermione asked, more serious. "I mean, this is taking it pretty fast, and I would never want to push you into anything..."

"Hermione, it's _fine_, I want this as much as you do. Besides, you-know-who could break in here and kill us all, at any moment, you never know. There's no point in waiting." Her fingers lingered on Hermione's cheek and she drew her in for another kiss.

"My thoughts exactly," said Hermione against Padma's lips. "You're fucking awesome, you know that?"

Padma grinned but put out a hand to stop Hermione when she moved in for another kiss. "Clothes!"

There was a frantic struggle as Padma attempted to remove Hermione's robes at the same time as Hermione reached for Padma's pants, which resulted in the robes being thrown thoughtlessly to the floor against Hermione's cries of "Hang _on_! I can't undo the button with just one hand!" Padma paused to allow Hermione to undo the button and slip her pants off her legs, and then slid her hands up under Hermione's shirt along her sides, feeling the warmth of her bare skin. Padma's hands stopped their upward motion to cup Hermione's full breasts for a moment, and then she reached back to unhook her bra, pulling off the bra and shirt in one unit and throwing them aside. Padma slid her hands down the smooth skin of Hermione's back and under the waistband of her jeans, and she responded by crawling forward to push Padma back onto the cot and kissing her fiercely.

Hermione quickly worked off Padma's shirt and her own jeans with Padma's help, and they joined the growing pile of clothes on the floor. Padma rolled her onto her back and lowered herself to lie along the length of her body, thrilling at the feeling of skin on skin everywhere. She pressed a line of kisses down the side of Hermione's neck, and when Hermione let out a low moan she could feel it shiver through her lips. "I think you're going to have to be louder, if you want anyone to hear us," she reminded her slyly. "Right," panted Hermione, and let out another, exaggeratedly noisy, moan. Then Padma continued her kisses down Hermione's chest, onto a soft breast, and circled the nipple with her tongue. Hermione's moan was real this time. Padma circled the breast with sucking kisses while kneading the other one gently in one hand. "Yes!" cried Hermione, arching her back to get closer to Padma, who lifted her head from the other girl's chest to capture her mouth in a deep kiss. Their legs tangled and Hermione held Padma tightly, grinding their hips together. Padma took up the rhythm and their panted cries crescendoed.

"I want to fuck you now," Hermione gasped into Padma's ear, and Padma murmured back, "please!" They rolled over so that Hermione lay on top. Padma winked at her and then cried out at the top of her voice, "YES! I want you to fuck me! FUCK ME NOW! FUCK ME HARD!" They both dissolved into laughter, but Padma gasped when Hermione dropped her head to her chest and copied Padma's actions of a few minutes ago. Then she pressed a kiss between Padma's breasts, and moved down her stomach, leaving a blazing trail of kisses in her wake. She continued path down, and Padma arched at the sensation of wet, licking pleasure that engulfed her. A husky moan escaped her throat as Hermione increased the pace of her tongue's motion, and Padma could feel the pressure building. She was going to come soon, if Hermione kept this up. Instead, Hermione lifted her head and planted a slippery kiss on Padma's stomach. Then Padma could feel one-no, two fingers entering her, Hermione's thumb still on the outside pressed against her clit, and she bucked her hips up to meet them.

Hermione started up a slow rocking rhythm with her fingers, and at the same time slid up along Padma's body to minister to her lips and neck and shoulders with her hot mouth. "Let's give them a show," she whispered huskily in Padma's ear, and then shouted "Like this?"

"No, harder!" Padma shouted back.

Hermione deepened her strokes, all the while pressing burning kisses into Padma's soft skin.

"Harder!" cried Padma with abandon.

Hermione obliged and Padma threw back her head, arching her back to give Hermione's plunging fingers still greater access.

"Hard enough?" demanded Hermione loudly.

"Yes! yes! oh, yes!" panted Padma, mostly for effect. "Faster!"

Hermione picked up the speed and Padma cried out in delight. "Yes! yes! yes! fuck, yes! god!" It felt so good; Hermione was so _good_. She could just – just what? Fuck her? She laughed at the perfection of it all, but it turned into a primal cry of pleasure. Hermione had just shifted the angle a bit, and _there_, right there, _that_ was the spot. Padma came violently, her world shattering into a million pieces, each of them perfect. She let loose a high, primal keen that echoed strangely through the cold stone halls in the bowels of the Ministry. Through her haze of pleasure she felt herself clench around Hermione's fingers in fluttering pulses as the waves of delight coursed through her, and then it subsided. Hermione collapsed onto her chest, and they held each other as their breathing slowed.

"You," said Padma between breaths, "were _wonderful_. Is it this good with you every time?"

"Well, we can find that out," said Hermione with a mischievous grin, running her fingers through Padma's sweaty hair.

"Later! I'm so tired out now; I don't know how you can even think it." Padma lifted her head up and kissed Hermione softly on the mouth. "But next time it's my turn; you did all the work this time."

"It was my pleasure!" came Hermione's muffled response from where she had buried her head in Padma's neck, drinking in her scent. "Did I mention how beautiful you are when you're being fucked?"

"No, you didn't."

"So beautiful, I almost couldn't concentrate on what I was doing."

"Well, I'm glad you managed to-"

They were interrupted by the bang of a boot on the door. "Keep it down in there! No one wants to hear your nasty show; it's three o'clock in the morning!" The guard sounded haggard, as though he had been kept awake for quite a while. However, the sound of scattered applause and whoops coming under the door from the other cells at his pronouncement belied this assertion.

"I think it worked," Padma said, grinning. The sound of heavy boots and a jangle of keys could be heard retreating down the hallway.

"Like magic," agreed Hermione. "I wonder how often we can pull that off before they do something?"

"I don't think there's anything they _can_ do," said Padma smugly. "I heard someone say that this was the only cell without two prisoners already, before they put me in. So it's not like they can move me out, and I doubt they would even consider moving up my trial date."

"If you even _have_ one," added Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"Shh now. I'm locked up in a cell with a gorgeous sex goddess indefinitely; I'm hardly complaining."

Hermione blushed despite herself, and kissed Padma on the cheek. "You're so sweet! How come we couldn't have met like this at Hogwarts?" She turned and looked Padma in the eyes. "I'm serious – if we get out of this, promise we can be together?"

Padma looked back into Hermione's bright eyes, and suddenly the future didn't seem so dark at all. "I promise," she said, and leaned up to capture Hermione's lips in a kiss full of the joy and hope she couldn't express with words.

-finito-

A/N: review and I'll give you candy apples! (or some equivalently autumnal treat) Also, that was seriously the first sex scene I've ever written, so let me know what you think. Was it way too over the top? Not enough? (god forbid!) Thanks for reading!


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